Lauren Haynes, currently associate curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, will head to Bentonville, Arkansas in October to take up a new post as curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges Museum of Contemporary Art.
Haynes has served at the Studio Museum for a decade, organizing and co-curating exhibitions including the current show of Alma Thomas as well as ”Speaking of People: Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art”; “Stanley Whitney: Dance the Orange”; and “Carrie Mae Weems: The Museum Series.” In addition, Haynes has overseen the museum’s artist-in-residence program, whose alumnae frequently go on to make a splash. Haynes earned a BA in art history from Oberlin College, in Ohio.
“Crystal Bridges and the Studio Museum share a commitment to bringing innovative and challenging artworks and exhibitions to broad and diverse audiences,” said Haynes in the announcement of her hire. “I can’t wait to bring the perspective I’ve developed over the past ten years to Crystal Bridges and the Northwest Arkansas community.”
The museum, founded in 2005 by Walmart heiress Alice Walton, recently snapped up a former Kraft Foods plant; it plans to adapt the 63,000-square-foot building to host contemporary visual art as well as performances and other events.
The museum made headlines last year when it bought Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 (1932) for a record-setting $44 million. Its acquisitions have also reached to more contemporary art, such as a Jeff Koons sculpture, as well as Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s cellophane-wrapped candy installation, Untitled (L.A.).